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Sun coffee plantations produce higher yields, but at serious social and environmental costs. Converting a traditional coffee farm into a technified operation involves clear cutting the forest. A casualty of this conversion is biodiversity. Studies in Colombia and Mexico found 94-97% fewer bird species in "sun grown" coffee plantations than in "shade grown" coffee because most of the birds are found in the canopy of the shade coffee plantations and very few forage in the coffee plants. Coffee plants exposed to the open sun are more susceptible to disease and require large applications of expensive chemicals. Small farmers can't afford the increased costs. The removal of shade trees eliminates the fuel wood, timber, and fruit crops that often serve as insurance for growers when coffee prices are low or when crops fail. Even though higher
yields are attractive to large growers, flooding the coffee market is
economically risky over the long term because prices fall as supplies increase
(I. e., if everyone technifies, there will be too much coffee).
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The
Black-Throated Green Warbler, Dendroica virens, lives in large
northern hardwood forests and uses mixed deciduous-coniferous forests as
breeding grounds. It winters in dense tropical forests and tropical woodlands.